Hinge construction



F. RICHARD.

HINGE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.10,1917. RENEWED 0m21.191s.

1,3259109, vPatented De@.16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

% s v liz/'Enma' F. RICHARD.

HINGE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- IO |917- RENEWED'OCT. 27, 1919.

Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- n artisans of the trade.

UNITED sTAgs PATENT oFFioE.

FRANCOIS RICHARD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE RICHARD AUTO MFG.

COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

Specicat-ion of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 10, 1917, Serial No. 154,036. Renewed October` 27, 1919. Serial No. 333,681

To all fwwm t may concern: l

Be it known that I, FRANQOIS RICHARD, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at T800 Finney avenue, Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hinge Constructions, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle7 so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

This invention pertains to hinge constructions and more particularly to the combination with a curved casing and door of a concealed type of hinge. In theeXemplification as disclosed by the drawings my invention is shown adapted to a curved automobile body.

My object has been to accomplish that which, so far as I have been able to learn, has been heretofore thought impossible by Upon inquiry of long established manufacturers I was informed that a concealed type of hinge applied to a curved door and casing would not enable the former to be swungopen through an arc of ninety degrees. If such has been an unsolved problem, my invention terminates its perpleXity.

IVith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to'be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Adverting to the drawing Figure I is a side elevation of an automobile embodying doors supported by my invention.

Fig. II is an enlarged broken view taken on line II-II of Fig. I with the door open and looking forwardly. I

Fig. IIIis an enlarged inside view of portions of the body and door connected by my hinge, showing the positions assumed by the parts when the door is closed.

Fig. IV is an enlarged pla-n section taken above the upper of the two hinges and with the door shut.

used.

Fig. V is a similar view showing the door swung open.

I have instanced one particular use to which my present invention is well adapted by illustrating it in a form suitable tothe type of automobile body now in favor. A side elevation of such an automobile body appears in Fig.' I and has been designated by the numeral l. The body l is formed on each side with a pair of upright casing edges 2 to which doors 3 are to beliinged. It lshould be understood that, as here exemplified, my'invention is peculiarly useful as applied to what are known in the art as concealed hinges. A hinge of this character is adapted for accommodation in the hollow interior of either the casing or the door, or bothgfso as to be hidden from View when the doors are closed. Of late years concealed hinges have come into considerable vogue in the automobile industry and more recently automobilebodies have their outside surfaces curved over the areas where it was desirable to have one or more doors. This necessitated what are known as curved doors in order neatly to conform to the streamline contour of the body as a whole. It is to be remembered that doors should ordinarily open through an angle ofl at least ninety de- Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

grees, and in the case of automobile doors it is preferable to so limit the swing of the door and also' preclude contact with the body. I believe I am the first to mount a curved dooron a complementar-ily curved casing by means of a concealed hinge so that sufficient clearance will be aorded andat thesame time a neat edge it insured.

`The automobile body is fashioned with a convex outer surface 4 and interiorly adjacent the casing edges 2 with a reinforcing ymember 5. The side of the body structure,

as a whole, which is to face the interior of the automoblle has no direc-t bearmg upon my invention and no consideration will be given to it other than to draw attention to I the dotted line in Fig. IV'which may be assumed as delining it. While in actual usek a pair of hinges would ordinarily be employed and the drawings so disclose, the description hereinafter will be confined to'only one and accordingly the singular number A hinge plate 6 of any approved shape, here approximately U shaped, is firmly set in near the casing 'edge Q. and may be held in place and reinforced by an upright bar of steel 7 which appears in Figs. III and 1V. In turn, integrally carried by or separately secured to the hinge plate 6 is a socket 8 having its axis substantially upright. F irmly fixed to the casing edges 2, so as to project beyond the same in a direction toward the door, is an upright angle iron 9 which is to serve the purpose of a stop to limit the swing of the door toward its open position, as will hereinafter appear.

A hinge arm 10, which is bent almost to the form of a complete loop, is pivoted on a pin 11 which is seated in the socket 8. Heretofore marketed hinge arms have been bent very similarly like the configuration of my hinge arm 10 with one notable excep-l tion. Till now, so far as I am aware, the

i hinge arm, when the door is in its closed position, has always first extended directly inwardly from its pivot and thereafter in the general direction of the door which was to be carried thereby. According to my conception the hinge arm first extends for a given distance at12, when the door is closed, in a direction directly away from the door. Next it extends at 13 at nearly right angles and inwardly, then again at 111 in a direction substantially parallel to the portion 12 and in the general direction of the door, and finally, at a point beyond the position of the stop 9, is again bent at 15 at a substantially right angle and parallel to the portion 13. Finally, it is still again bent at 1G, which portion is about in line with the portion tions 15 and 16 that the door Sis to be secured. Such door 3 includes in its structure a complenientarily curved outside convex surface 17, an upright door frame angle 18 to which the portion 15 may beriveted or otherwise firmly fixed and which when the door is closed is in juxtaposition to the stop 9. Interiorly the that one of its edges which is opposed to the casing edge 2, with a stiening extension 19 of the angle 18 fastened with a slightly .curved'edge 20 as is clearly shown in Fig.

IV A straight line distance between the axis of the socket 8 and the plane of the edge casing 2 must be selected to exceed the straight line distance from the axis of the socket 8 outwardly to the farthest removed portion of the surface 4. The straight line 12. It is to the por-l i door 3 is provided, along iaaioe distance between the socket Sand the innermost point on the toe of the angle 9 must not exceed the distance from the axis of the socket 8 to that side of the portion 141 which is nearest the socket.

Artisans familiar with the hinge joining trade will readily understand the fact that more clearance, during the swinging action of a door, is required when such door and the casing which mounts'it are both alike curved outwardly. It will be manifest also that the arrangement, according to which the hinge arm 10 first extends at 12 in a direction away from the door 3, serves at once to compel the door to be swung through a wider aro sufficient to cause its near edge freely to Ymove past the casing edge. The manner in which the stop 9 limits the swing of thedoor, by reason of the engagement of the portion 13 of the arm therewith, is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. V.

llclaim: v

l. A hinge construction adapted to be used with a casing and a door comprising a stiffeningangle iron secured to said casing', another-angle iron secured to said door and adapted to inclose the casing iron, said door iron having a surface disposed at an angle to the inner side thereof, a pivot secured to said casing, and a hinge arm movable upon said pivot and secured both to the stiffening member and to the inner side of said door, said arm extending a. given distance from said pivot in a direction away from said door when the latter is closed whereby to afford the necessary clearance in opening the same.

2. A hinge construction adapted to be used with a hollow casing and a door having a' pair of angularly'related inner surfaces, comprising a pivot mounted within -said casing, and a widely looped hinge arm connecting said door and pivot, said pivot being spaced a lesser distance from the near edge of the door than the distance of an interjacent part of said loop from such edge, said hinge arm having angularly related surfaces conforming and secured to said pair of door surfaces.

)Signed by me, this 28th day of February, 191 1 FRANQOIS RICHARD. 

